Dallion played the strings that resonated with the guardian’s fear. Despite that, no marker appeared. There was no mistake—the bladicorn was completely immune to music. Maybe that was specific to the creature itself, or possibly it required a higher skill proficiency. Even so, Dallion wasn’t worried.

Dripping the harpsisword with both hands, he spun the weapon and threw it in the direction of the beast. Unfortunately, the attack did far better in his mind than in practice. The strength was there, but not the aim, making the harpsisword miss its target by over two feet. It seemed that throwing wasn’t considered an attack skill. To be reliably successful, he was going to have to master athletics. With luck, that could happen at the end of this battle.

Without hesitation, Dallion drew his dartbow and aimed for the bladicorn’s front hoof. Holding his breath, he squeezed the trigger twice. Two bolts propelled forward, both of them stopped by a torrent of grass upon approaching the creature.

“Nice save.” Dallion tossed the weapon to the ground, then reached for the sheath on his back. As expected, the harpsisword had emerged there again. “Close combat it is, then.”

The guardian snorted, digging into the ground before it with a hoof. It was clever enough not to attempt another attack, giving the initiative to Dallion. As soon as he moved forward, though, blades of grass filled the air.

“Shield!” Dallion extended the armadil shield forward. The metal segments extended, providing full protection from the ranged attack. Once the metallic rattling stopped, the shield reverted back to its standard form.

We’re in a stalemate, Dallion thought. The bladicorn, as large as it was, couldn’t win in a direct battle, so it resorted to keeping its distance and using ranged attacks. By all accounts, it looked like this was going to be one long battle. It wouldn’t be a surprise if it ended up being a battle of attrition, just like when Dallion had first become an awakened. Unlike then, though, he didn’t have the desire to waste time.

Battle stances went through his mind. Attacking from a distance was useless, so the only alternative was for Dallion to charge forward, to provoke the guardian into action.

Here we go, he gripped his sword and darted forward.

Odds were that the bladicorn would either retreat or launch another wave of blades. After several steps, it appeared to be the former. With a sudden turn, the guardian galloped off, increasing the distance between them. That didn’t discourage Dallion, though. Determined to see his attack through, Dallion pressed on, running as fast as his legs would let him. His speed wasn’t enough to catch up to the creature, but kept the distance from increasing too rapidly.

If this were Earth, humans were capable of outrunning any animal. Here, things weren’t so clear. Even so, after a minute the bladicorn launched another wave of glass projectile behind it. This was what Dallion was waiting for. On the surface, the sharp green projectiles seemed ideal for wounding enemies from a distance, they also provided an opportunity for Dallion to use his guard skills.

Before the markers could appear, he held his shield in front, protecting the entire upper half of his torso.

MINOR WOUND

Your health was reduced by 5%

MINOR WOUND

Your health was reduced by 5%

A few blades pierced Dallion’s right leg, but that wasn’t of significance; he had managed to complete the sequence, reaching the first-time freeze. Taking advantage of the fact, Dallion leapt forward, starting his second sequence.

That’s what you get for taking me lightly, he thought.

Each guard sequence for him closer to the guardian, while also increasing the distance he could leap to while time was being slowed down. After his fifth uninterrupted success, the familiar green rectangle appeared.

ESCAPE TRIGGERED

If you wish to escape combat, smash the window.

Escaping, however, was not on Dallion’s mind. Instead, he used the time stop to breach the gap between him and the guardian and swing at its damaged hoof.

FATAL STRIKE

Dealt damage was increased by 500%

LEG SEVERED

Enemy will no longer be able to make use of its LEFT BACK LEG.

Time returned to normal. Before Dallion’s eyes, the hoof of the guardian grumbled to dust, and that was not all. The mass of leaves that made up the entire leg twisted apart like a box of spilled spaghetti. Only when they reached the torso of the creature did the disintegration stop. That was so unexpected that for a moment, Dallion let down his guard, wondering whether that wouldn’t be enough to defeat the guardian. That turned out to be a costly mistake.

The bladicorn had no intention of letting Dallion destroy its leg for free. With a violent twist, it slammed its horn into the human. For an instant Dallion felt as if he had run into a slab of concrete. It was only through the quick reaction of his armadil shield that he didn’t suffer any action wounds. Even with that protection, the attack knocked the air out of his chest, throwing him twenty feet away.

LUCKY BREAK

Sometimes luck is enough to get you out of a tight spot. However, don’t tempt fate or at some point that all the luck you’ve gained will be taken away from you.

You don’t say, Dallion thought, struggling to take a breath. In any other circumstances this might have marked the end of the fight—and if this were real life, the end of Dallion’s life as well. Taking a few moments, Dallion lowered the shield. The guardian glared at him, breathing just as heavily.

At first glance, Dallion had the clear advantage. He still had ninety percent of his health back, while the bladicorn was at sixty-five and only had three legs remaining. A few moments later, that no longer was the case. Leaves sprouted down from its body, making up the missing limb. Unlike the other three, this one didn’t end in a hoof of earth.

“Way to go, Dal!” Falkner shouted. “You can do it!”

Dallion blinked. He had completely forgotten about the boy. Somewhat embarrassed, he glanced to his right. The archway was there, as if following Dallion as he moved about.

“Just great,” Dallion hissed beneath his breath. “Sorry about that.” He turned to the guardian. “Wasn’t my idea to have the fight public.”

“It’s alright,” the guardian replied to Dallion’s astonishment. “It’s not the first time.”

Had that just happened? This wasn’t the first time Dallion had heard guardians speak, but in this case, he wasn’t expecting it. The bladicorn had counted on that, for it launched a new series of blades. This time it was a single spread, preventing Dallion from using them to approach too much. It was a clever move, though ultimately futile. The armadil shield gave Dallion a considerable advantage, and even without it, he could have suffered only a few minor wounds had he relied on his standard evasion abilities.

So, it’s like that, is it? Dallion smiled. The guardian had clearly changed its tactic to rely on surprise attacks, but at this point it was already too late. The latest wound had limited its speed, and since it couldn’t rely on the rain of blades, it was bound to lose.

The moment Dallion tried dashing forward, he noticed that he couldn’t. The blades previously shot at him had managed to entangle his feet to the ground. The guardian was careful not to allow any contact, instead creating a few inches in front of Dallion’s feet. Only after the first step had the blades tightened, effectively pinning him down in place.

“Clever move,” Dallion said. Since this wasn’t an attack, there had been no defense markers. Now Dallion was a sitting duck. Quite a good plan. However, there was one major flaw. “Shield, surround me,” Dallion said without a moment of hesitation.

The order was obeyed on the second. The shield’s segments stretched once more, surrounding Dallion like a ball. Once that was done, Dallion had only to do one thing: lean forward.

MEDIUM WOUND

Your health was reduced by 10%

There was a slight amount of pain as the glades cut through Dallion’s boots and into his skin, before snapping. An acceptable price to pay, considering it had set him free. What was more, now it was his turn to make the next move.

Dallion let the “ball” make a full roll before ordering the shield to open up. Right on time too. Seizing the opportunity, the guardian had already started its charge. Given the state of the shield, Dallion had no chance of blocking the attack, so he did the next best thing. Drawing his harpsichord, he swung against the creature’s horn. There was a loud thud. The massive horn had changed state, allowing the place to sink into it.

Music, Dallion thought, while simultaneously playing a chord. Maybe music couldn’t be used to control the guardian, but there was no way it could ignore an emotion vibrating directly into its head, especially since the emotion in question was pain.

The bladicorn’s eyes glowed brighter. The creature rose up on its hind legs, throwing Dallion up into the air. Simultaneously, Dallion let go of the harpsisword and drew his dartbow. A single bolt targeted the guardian’s front left hoof.

FATAL HIT

Dealt damage was increased by 500%

At this distance it was impossible to miss. The hoof fractures. Another bolt followed, shattering it to pieces.

FATAL HIT

Dealt damage was increased by 500%

LEG SEVERED

Enemy will no longer be able to make use of its LEFT BACK LEG.

That’s two down, Dallion thought.

Less than forty percent of health remained. Normally, Dallion would be suspicious of the ease with which he had dealt with so much damage. The voice of doubt kept whispering in the back of his mind that there had to be more to it. Surely this all had to be a trap.

“Not this time,” Dallion said, and targeted the remaining front hoof. And just to be certain, once the bolt had been launched, Dallion let go of the dartbow, drawing the harpsisword from its scabbard once more.

Attack, he thought. A series of attack markers appeared. The blade followed the path of the weapon.

FATAL STRIKE

Dealt damage was increased by 500%

Even before the blade made contact, both participants knew that the battle was over. In that brief moment, a sense of achievement resonated in both. Dallion was pleased that he had managed to pass the trial; the bladicorn—that it had helped him pass it. In the end, that was the purpose of the awakening shrine—not only to determine who had the skills to continue on to the next level, but also display what the participant was lacking. The guardian had done everything it could to find a weakness it could exploit, and it had failed; or rather it had been slower to do so than Dallion.

Second by second, clusters of grass detached from the beast, floating slowly towards the ground. The front legs disappeared, then the head, the body, and finally the last hooved leg. The beautiful majestic creature that Dallion had faced was now reduced to a single cluster of grass in a clump of earth.

“Thanks for the battle,” Dallion said. He hoped he’d get a chance to see another guardian of that type at some point in the future. Hopefully, then he wouldn’t have to fight it. For the moment, though, the trial held priority.

You have broken through your tenth barrier.

Finally, the coveted rectangle was there. For over ten seconds Dallion kept staring at it, savoring the moment. From now on he was technically a double digit, even if he had to pass the official trial.

You are level 10

Choose the focus you value the most.

The familiar five rectangles appeared underneath. To Dallion’s pleasant surprise, all of his attributes, with the exception of mind, were at level ten, as were all his skills. The only other exception was the grey rectangle that remained, displaying five out of twenty. As much as Dallion wanted to invest more points there, the uneven number of visible attributes annoyed him to the point that he tapped on mind. Now he had ten everywhere, just like Falkner. However, one final step remained.